The feasts of Camelot
by Spirals and Lightning Bolts
Summary: (I don't own Merlin.) It's the Winter solstice and Merlin and Gwaine are feeling hungry, good job there's a whole uneaten feast in the castle kitchens. Oneshot. No slash. Happy Christmas! :)


"Gwaine," Merlin whispered nervously, glancing at the knight as the pair of them stole in the castle kitchens, "I really don't think that this is a good idea you know, what if Arthu-"

The knight cut him off, "Calm down mate, no one's gonna notice, they're all busy in that meeting thing in the square anyway,"

There was a meeting in the town square where the executions were normally held, in which Arthur was giving a speech about how the evening's festivities would play out for this year's Winter solstice. Merlin should know, he'd written the speech.

Almost all the population of Camelot had turned up, chattering amongst themselves as they waited for the famous celebrations to begin and, for the castle's inhabitants, the feast that would follow soon afterwards. It was because of the said feast that Gwaine and Merlin (despite his protests) were in the warm and empty castle kitchens where the food was being stored until later.

Gwaine had an impish grin on his face as the heavy wooden door swung open, revealing the piles and piles of food laid out on several heaped tables which looked like they were in danger of collapsing. The knight let out a low whistle at the sight of it and even Merlin stared, feeling his stomach begin to rumble and his mouth watering. Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten much recently because he'd been rushed off his feet helping to prepare for the Winter solstice festival.

And all that food did look good.

Gwaine had already strolled over to one of the tables and was now circling it like Merlin had seen him and the other knights do when they fought during training, looking for possible weaknesses. The warlock was a little more careful in his approach, scanning the corridor he and Gwaine had just left and then the heated, seemingly deserted room. All of the cooking utensils were left hanging up in their correct places and all of the pots that Merlin was used to seeing bubbling on one of the numerous stoves filled with a delicious soup or stew were hidden away in cupboards. The huge fire crackled as it slowly consumed the massive Yule Log that had been placed there by on of the servants earlier that morning, the warmth spilled out of the fireplace and into the room making him almost forget the bitter sting of frost that hung in the air outside.

Merlin stared at the fire, almost mesmerized by the dancing flames that circled the mighty log, they were a beautiful golden colour- so warm and safe somehow, different from many of the other fires he'd seen during his time in Camelot. The boy shuddered suddenly, it was probably best not to think about that. He turned away from the fire and back to his friend who had already selected an enormous, plump chicken leg and was sinking his teeth into it.

"Gwaine!" He hissed, glancing quickly at the door, hoping no other servants were walking up the corridor with the intention of coming into the kitchens.

Said knight just rolled his eyes and continued shovelling meat into his mouth.

" 'on't worry 'lin, no one 'll be 'ere for aaages" he said reassuringly through a mouthful of food, some of it flying out and splattering his friend who frowned as he tried to decipher what Gwaine had just said.

Don't worry Merlin, no one will be here for ages.

He wasn't so sure, Arthur's speech was quite long and the festivities even longer but he didn't know how much time had passed and he'd been planning on getting back around the middle of the celebrations so, if someone did notice the missing food (which really didn't seem likely given the sheer amount of it), he and Gwaine would look like less of likely suspects.

_Even more of a reason to scoff something now before they come back _a voice in the warlock's head told him (obviously not Kilgarah's). Gingerly, almost as if the food might explode the second he touched it, Merlin grabbed some bread a bit into it. Next to him, Gwaine grinned and reached out for his fourth chicken leg.

They continued shovelling food down their throats until there was a suddenly noise from the corridor behind them. Panicking, both of the ducked under the table and frantically chewed the existing food that was in their mouths. Gradually the sound got closer. Footsteps. Merlin's heart thudded in his chest as the wooden door slowly creaked open and someone crept into the not-so-empty-anymore room. Another person followed. Then another. There were now three people stood in the room with Gwaine and Merlin crouched under the table.

A familiar voice broke the silence, "Wow! That's a lot of food,"

"Yes," Another oh-so-familiar voice replied, "it's even more than they had here last year!"

Under the table, the servant and the knight glanced at each other, wondering if they should stand up and reveal themselves or wait for the final person to be revealed first.

"Really?" Percival asked, "where did it all come from?"

"I don't know," Leon replied, "we must of had a really good harvest this year I suppose,"

"A _really _good harvest," Elyan agreed, walking over to the table that Merlin and Gwaine were crouched under to look at the food.

Gwaine seemed to make up his mind then, he coughed quietly and then popped up from under the table with a huge grin plastered across his face. After a few seconds Merlin followed.

If anyone ever asked, years later, the warlock would still remember the expressions on the knights faces from that night. They all froze and stared at Gwaine with a mixture of joy, guilt, and shock splattered across their faces.

"Gwaine! Merlin!" Percival's voice broke the silence first, "have you been there the entire time?"

The knight nodded, brown hair bouncing slightly on his shoulders as he did so, "yep,"

"Well," Elyan said, "it explains why we couldn't find them,"

Leon nodded, "Why didn't you tell us? We could of all gone together. And we wouldn't of spent ages searching for you two!"

Gwaine just grinned in response, the impish look that Merlin had seen earlier returned to his face.

"Well," the knight began, "since we're all here, shall we tuck in?" He gestured to the mountains of food around them.

Everyone else seemed to agree and the room was soon filled with the sounds of munching and crunching.

And if any of the kitchen maids noticed any missing food later when they went to take it to the feast, none of them said anything.

After all, it was the Winter solstice.

**This idea just refused to leave me so I ended up writing this in just 2hours, I hope you like it :)**

**Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Happy winter and happy New Year to those of you who don't.**

**:D Thank you for reading! :)**


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